Ferry toll issue returns with new public hearings

Another public hearing on the possibility of establishing tolls on the Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach ferry is set for Feb. 6 at Pamlico Community College.

Sun Journal file photo

By Charlie Hall, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Monday, January 27, 2014 at 04:54 PM.

The ferry toll issue has returned to the front burner, squarely in the hands of local Rural Planning Organizations.

The General Assembly last year put the three-year battle over raising existing tolls and establishing new tolls on the coastal ferry system at the discretion of the local boards. These boards have in the past served in an advisory capacity.

The state Department of Transportation has scheduled a series of public hearings, including one on Feb. 6 at Pamlico Community College.

DOT will make a presentation and take comments. The currently proposed tolls are less than those presented in 2012 and 2013.

In those years, not all ferries were included in the tolling and now they are.

Two previous toll hearings in Pamlico brought hundreds of protesting citizens and led to the formation of a group called “Don’t Tax Our Highway.”

The 2013 legislation said the DOT cannot raise or establish tolls without a specific request from the rural planning groups.

The ferry toll issue has returned to the front burner, squarely in the hands of local Rural Planning Organizations.

The General Assembly last year put the three-year battle over raising existing tolls and establishing new tolls on the coastal ferry system at the discretion of the local boards. These boards have in the past served in an advisory capacity.

The state Department of Transportation has scheduled a series of public hearings, including one on Feb. 6 at Pamlico Community College.

DOT will make a presentation and take comments. The currently proposed tolls are less than those presented in 2012 and 2013.

In those years, not all ferries were included in the tolling and now they are.

Two previous toll hearings in Pamlico brought hundreds of protesting citizens and led to the formation of a group called “Don’t Tax Our Highway.”

The 2013 legislation said the DOT cannot raise or establish tolls without a specific request from the rural planning groups.

The local ferry in question —Minnesott-Cherry Branch —falls under the authority of the Down East RPO. It has two members each from Craven, Pamlico, Carteret, Jones and Onslow counties.

The proposed tolls include one-way fares of $3 for standard vehicles 20 feet and under, with an annual pass costing $75.

If requested, the new or increased tolls would go only toward replacement of ferries in that area.

The Minnesott-Cherry Branch route has three “river class” vessels, including the 25-year-old Kinnakeet, which is scheduled for replacement this year. Two others, the Neuse and Floyd J. Lupton, are scheduled for replacement in 2023 and 2025.

The cost of a replacement river ferry is about $12 million to $15 million.

Pamlico County RPO representative Chris Mele, a county commissioner, said she was surprised by the announcement. She said the RPO discussed the matter at its December meeting and requested some information. She said there had been no official notification or information passed to the RPO members about the planned hearings.

“I am very disappointed to say the least,” she said. “I am sure it is coming as a surprise to everyone on that committee.”

The Down East RPO coordinator Patrick Flanagan said the 2013 legislation had indicated that DOT would hold hearings by March of this year.

Flanagan, the planning director for the Eastern Carolina Council, added that the RPOs do not have any deadline to make a decision on tolls —ever.

If the RPO does not request tolling, Flanagan said the state will purchase a needed ferry anyway. The money will come from the multi-county division’s budget, part of DOT’s new allocation system under Gov. Pat McCrory. A ferry would be paid for over a number of years.

A replacement ferry cost would cut into money available for local DOT projects.

Flanagan explained that DOT’s money is now allocated at state, regional and divisional levels. There are 14 divisions statewide, each receiving $34 million annually for projects ranging from highways, bike trails and bridges to airports and rails.

The Down East RPO counties, with the exception of Onslow, are in Division 1, which also includes Pitt, Lenoir, Greene and Beaufort counties.

Mele said the local RPO was still on a learning curve about this new task they have been assigned.

The overall tolling annual goal remains listed by DOT at $5 million systemwide.

“We don’t even know at this point what our budget is,” Mele said of the RPO. “It is a very, very complex way the things have been changed as far as funding for transportation issues. We are still learning about that and being able to comprehend how these formulas work. But, we know that there is going to be a point at which we have to make some kind of recommendation. But, this came as a surprise.”

The state’s series of four public hearingsinclude the establishment of tolls on the Hatteras-Ocracoke, Currituck-Knotts Island, Bayview-Aurora, and Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach routes; along with increases in tolls on the Southport-Fort Fisher, Cedar Island-Ocracoke, and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes.